PHOENIX—Barry Enright made a seamless transition to the Diamondbacks rotation after being promoted, and he credits much of it to lessons imparted by Double-A Mobile pitching coach Dan Carlson after an early season start against Tennessee.

"He told me I pitched at 80 percent. He kind of pushed me to the next level," said Enright, who went 4-1, 2.88 in 94 innings at Mobile.
"He was kind of challenging me to have a little bit more aggressiveness. You never really notice it until someone brings it out of you. To stop being so passive out there, stop trying to conserve. Trust that you have worked out and trained your body to the highest level to be able to get through seven to nine innings."

Enright, 24, won his major league debut while giving up one run in a 4-2 victory against the Cardinals on June 30, and he followed that by giving up two and three runs in his final two starts before the all-star break. A lack of offensive support dropped him to 1-2, 3.45 in 16 innings.

A second-round pick out of Pepperdine in 2007, Enright has shown an ability to throw strikes with a four-pitch repertoire that begins with a 91-92 mph fastball and includes two breaking balls and a changeup.

"The good thing about him is he can locate," big league manager Kirk Gibson said. "With his stuff, that's what he has to do."

Enright, 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, was 3-0, 2.37 in his final eight starts at Mobile, and his command—always a strength—seemed to be better after Carlson's push.
Enright struck out 57 and walked just eight in 57 innings after a bad outing at Tennessee on May 8,

"From there (Carlson) pushed me, saying 'Why don't you want to be great? Why don't you want to dominate a level like this,' " Enright said. "I guess that was a point where it was kind of a turnaround. It's not like I'm done. There is so much more to learn."

Snake Bites

• Lefthander Taylor Sinclair, a nondrafted free agent from Northern Iowa signed in 2008, struck out seven in a two-hit shutout for high Class A Visalia against Bakersfield on July 11. He faced the minimum 27 batters thanks to two double plays. Sinclair, 24, was 6-4, 2.90 with 65 strikeouts in 92 innings this season.

• The Diamondbacks recalled rookie lefthander Jordan Norberto, 23, in early July. He'd gone 3-0, 3.07 in 29 innings with Triple-A Reno and was unscored upon in nine of his first 10 big league appearances, the first six of which came back in April.